My Favorite Indian Spots in NJ for Brooklyn Based

I was so excited to be asked by Brooklyn Based to write a piece about my favorite Indian spots in Edison and Iselin NJ, which is home to one of the largest Indian communities in the US.  I have a lot of  memories spending time on the main drag, Oak Tree Road, with my family when I was growing up and it was a treat to write about all of the places that I love. You can read the complete article here. 

Curried and Creamed Kale for Gojee Potluck

I made this dish special for the Gojee potluck last week, which was super fun because I got to meet a lot of the other writers in the area.  I decided to make a curried and creamed kale, kind of a take on traditional creamed spinach and also Indian saag or palak.

For this recipe, I flavored the kale with Indian spices, and instead of using cream, used lebne, Lebanese strained yogurt - almost like yogurt cheese.  I love the lebne from Kalustyan's in Curry Hill - they make it fresh and it's the most delicious I have ever had! 

Realizing this was for a potluck, I threw in some red peppers because creamed kale is not the most attractive thing and I had some sev, fried chickpea flour strands in the fridge so I sprinkled some on top for texture and color, which went over well.

There were so many amazing dishes at this potluck, which you can also get the recipes for. Starting on Thursday, January 26, you can check out other potluck dishes my fellow gojee contributors shared. Go to gojee.com and enter “gojeepotluck” into I Crave.  You can also follow #gojeepotluck on Twitter. 

Enjoy! 

Curried and Creamed Kale

Ingredients

1-2 tablespoons ghee or oil

1 bunch kale, stems removed and chopped

1/4 onion, chopped

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

1 clove garlic

1 teaspoon ginger, grated

pinch of asafoetida or hing

1 tablespoon coriander powder

1 teaspoon cumin powder

1/3 teaspoon turmeric

1/4 teaspoon chili powder (to taste)

1/2 teaspoon garam masala

lemon juice - few squeezes

2 tablespoons lebne

sev (optional)

salt to taste

Method

Heat ghee or oil in a pan under medium high heat and throw in pinch of asafoetida or hing.  Add in onions to pan and fry until translucent.  Next add in ginger and garlic and fry for a few seconds.  Add in the rest of the spices and mix around well. Add in red pepper and fry for 5 minutes or until pepper is cooked.  Add a little bit of water into the pan, if the pan is getting a little dry.  Then add in kale and stir well.  Turn off heat right when you see the kale start to deflate and turn a rich green color.  Add in salt and and lemon and mix.  Transfer kale to a serving dish.  Mix in the lebne well and sprinkle with sev.

Apple Tamarind Chutney @ Farm Bill Hackathon

My good friend Danielle Gould, founder of Food+Tech Connect recently orchestrated the Farm Bill Hackathon in collaboration with Gojee last month.  The Farm Bill Hackathon brought together over 120 tech and food policy experts to produce infographics, apps and tools to convey the complexities and relevance of the impending Farm Bill, a piece of legislation that comes up for review every 5 years and dictates the landscape of food and farming in the US.

There were presentations throughout the day given by individuals in food policy and technology from WhyHunger, NYT R&D Lab, Data Without Borders and Food & Water Watch.  At the end of the 12 hour event, 5 graphics and 4 tools were created to address a variety of issues related to the Farm Bill's impact on new farmers, global hunger and a host of other issues along with ways to visualize sentiment of major stakeholders and weight support for different commodities and crops in the bill. A panel of judges rated each group's work and awarded prizes of dinners at Telepan, Red Rooster Harlem, and Northern Spy Food Co. to the winners.  You can find out more about all of the amazing projects that were developed that day at Food+Tech Connect.

Although I'd love to be a coder, I'm not, and decided the best way for me to contribute would be to make make food for the hackathon participants. I also write for both Food+Tech and Gojee so I was really happy to support them on this event and to see it go so well.



For the hackathon, I prepared a bunch of tea sandwiches, curried paneer and chutneys (am on quite a chutney kick lately).  Apples are the one fruit that is in abundance at the farmer's market so I messed around with some golden delicious ones and mixed in some tamarind to complement the sweetness of the fruit with sour.  The chutney went really well with sharp cheddar and toasted whole grain loaf.  Enjoy!



Apple Tamarind Chutney



Ingredients
1 tablespoon ghee
4 golden delicious apples, peeled, cored and cut into cubes
3 dried red chilis
6 cloves, crushed
1 teaspoon cardamom powder
1/4 cup almonds
1 teaspoon ginger, grated
1/4 cup yellow raisins
2 heaping tablespoons of honey
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon tamarind concentrate
1 teaspoon salt



Method
Crush the cloves in a mortar and pestle and set aside.  Toast almonds in a non-stick pan under medium low heat and set aside.

Heat ghee in another pan under medium heat.  Put in red chilis, cardamom, cloves and ginger. Fry for 30 seconds.  Next add in the almonds and mix well.  Throw in the apples and the rest of the ingredients in the pan.  Mix well and bring to a boil.  Simmer for 40 minutes or until fruit is completed cooked and turns to mush:)  Taste to see that there is enough sweet and spicy and add more honey or chili flakes accordingly.  The chutney should be sour and sweet with a spicy kick at the end.

Puree coarsely in a blender to make it spreadable.